Champagne for Elevenses

This, my friends, is a cactus, growing 2 stories high in the Town of Forio,
Ischia Island, Italy. I was impressed. My grand-father-in-law was a
goatherd in the country near here.



Today has been a special day. We went to our Bible study, with some of
the best people in the world and decided to celebrate the sale of our house with some champagne and blueberry buckle. Communion comes in many forms and we all had much to thank God for - house closings, new homes, recovery from strokes, outstanding music, laughter, shared joys and pains, a place where you can share doubts and fears and be loved not just for your good points, but your bad ones as well and find healing and company for the journey. We all need these places of love and shelter and I hope each of you has one.



We then went to the farmers market and found some beautiful fruits and veggies. Then I made tea - the last of the samples I have from Aura Teas. I would love to tell you the exact name, but I set the small packet down and now I can't find it. It is a Formosa Oolong and it is medium roasted. The leaves are quite large and dark. Dry, they don't smell like a lot, but once the water hit them - heaven in a cup, what a sweet, sweet scent, underscored by a roasted note. I used just enough to cover the bottom of a smallish mug and used water at about 195 degrees for about 45 seconds. The taste is wonderful; to me, that is, as I especially like the floral end of the Oolongs. It just fills my mouth up and lingers on my tongue. The second wash was greener looking than the pale gold of the first. It still smelled wonderful and was still sweet, but it was beginning to go towards a more green taste that was still superb.

Believe me, as soon as I find the packet, I'll tell you the name - it is too good to miss. Be careful if you look for this company on the web - there is another new company with nearly the same name. The correct address is http://www.aurateas.com/ Make sure you get that "s" in at the end of tea.

I decided to share the good day with the fur people and gave each of them their own pile of catnip. Oh purrrrrblissssss!